Chapter 215 Canonization Of The Noble's
215 Canonization Of The Noble's
Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, Vijayanagar State, Capital City - Hampi.
After the patent law came into effect, Vijay found himself relatively free again. He happily spent what little free time he had with Kavya. However, his free time was short-lived as he received a message from Kishore Balabhadra this morning. It was about the list of nobles eligible for canonization. Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"Finally," Vijay exclaimed, as he had been waiting for the list for a long time. The merits for obtaining the noble title were calculated from the one-year war. Naturally, most of the merits were accumulated by the military. Vijay didn't mind, as in this day and age, it was the military strength and hard power of the Empire that made everything possible and established the empire as a world power. This situation will be different in the 21st century, where the economy and population determine the global standing of the country.
Vijay, by granting new noble titles, was aware that his faction, previously comprised only of him and the royal family, would now be welcoming numerous new members. While he could currently maintain control over the government due to his accumulated prestige and dominance over the military and executive units, along with their associated salaries, he harboured uncertainty about his descendants' ability to do the same. The nobility class played a crucial role in sustaining royal power, even though it wasn't hereditary. Fortunately, it provided more stability than the government, as nobility conferred a lifelong title. In contrast, court nobles or ministers could only hold their positions for five years, albeit with the possibility of reelection. This gap presented ample opportunity for the nobility to manoeuvre and secure advantages for themselves.
Finally, consulting with the priest, Vijay decided on the coronation the next day.
Royal Capital Palace Grounds.
Today is a special event, as His Majesty the Emperor has convened a coronation ceremony. The streets are filled with decorations, and people wearing luxurious clothes are making their way towards the palace grounds. Surprisingly, the dresses they were wearing were shockingly similar to what Her Majesty the Queen had designed – a sherwani for the men and vrddhim for the women. Although they are not as luxurious as what Kavya had designed, it could be seen that the dresses that some of the rich people wore were also not cheap.
The reason why these dresses appeared throughout the empire, particularly in the large cities was that Kavya managed to license the design to various textile companies all over the Empire. These particular dresses that people were wearing were from Bakshi Textiles. Kavya exclusively licensed the design to this textile company in the capital, in order to thank Mr. Arjan Bakshi for his aid in the procurement of various channels and raw materials.
Apart from what Kavya designed, her creations also inspired many textile company owners. Some of the merchants went on a mini-hunt for designers in the empire. They went to incredible lengths to find suitable designers for their companies, while others had their own ideas and designed their own dresses. Although most of the results that came out of this phenomenon were altered versions of Kavya's design, there was one textile company that did something totally different from Kavya's and came up with an original design.
This textile, known as Hema Textiles, is situated in the Kakatiyapuri state of the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire. The design introduced by the textile closely resembled the lehenga saree of future generations. The mind behind this saree's design was Ranjana Naidu, and the owner of the textile was her father, Gajendra Naidu. To their surprise, when they applied for the patent with the mindset of giving it a try, considering many of their colleagues had failed to obtain a patent, they succeeded. During the assessment of Hema Textiles' application, Ranjana's design was deemed unique enough to grant the patent, which was subsequently awarded to Hema Textiles. Gajendra also reaped financial benefits, as numerous textile factory owners approached him, seeking licensing for the design.
As everyone was seated in their seats at the palace grounds, the musicians played the music as an opening act. Next, it was a little girl singing a song for Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. After all these starting activities, Vinod gave his speech, praising His Majesty the Emperor and thanking him for the coronation. This speech was lengthy though. It took a whole hour to finish the speech. Fortunately, the audience was adults, not children. If it were children, they would have already fallen asleep due to boredom. While the adults looked bored, they did not fall asleep. After Vinod's introduction, it was Vijay's turn.
"My dear citizens of the Empire, we are gathered here today to witness the canonization of the new nobles of the Empire. The individuals who are about to receive this title today have all performed meritorious deeds in the empire, and the Empire is grateful to these individuals for their commitment to its betterment.
These individuals deserve to be compensated by the Empire for their merit, but unfortunately, due to the frequent wars we had to fight, there was no such opportunity. However, my dear citizens, today is the day when the shining stars of the Empire are born.
I, the Emperor of the Dakshin Bhartiya Empire, declare that the coronation ceremony will begin immediately."
*WOAAAAAA!!*
*Clap clap clap clap* *Clap clap clap clap* *Clap clap clap clap* There was a huge roar of exclamations and claps from the crowd as vijay finished his proclamation.
Next, Kishore Balabhadra took the stage to explain the different ranks of nobility to the common people who had yet to gain knowledge of this.
"Good morning esteemed citizens of the Empire! I am the observer of the Empire from the Election Nobility and Examination Council (ENEC). One of my duties is to ensure that the canonization process in the Empire is going on smoothly and also to make sure that no one is left behind. Now that everyone has a basic understanding of me and my role in the Empire, let me start by explaining the ranks of nobility.
The class of nobility will be divided into 5 ranks where the fifth rank can only be held by the emperor, the 4th rank by the top leaders of the military and government, the third rank by the generals and the ministers, the second rank by the parliamentarians and soldiers whose merit reached the required value, and the first rank with similar functions to the second rank."
"Now that we have a clear understanding of the ranks of nobility, let me first start the canonization from the highest rank of nobility.
Prime Minister Vinod, in his capacity as the leader of the government, is bestowed with the title of a rank 4 Noble. Additionally, he is granted agricultural tax-free privileges for the land he owns until death. In alignment with his title and position, a reward of 280 acres of land is presented.
*Ohhhhh*
*Wow, so much*
*So envious*
Murmurs among the crowd became louder as they were surprised by the amount of land received by Vinod. Everyone had a feeling that the reward would be very high, but they never expected it would be so substantial.
It was Vijay's idea to grant these new nobles such an amount of farmland. He first considered how much land to grant these new nobles, and after careful consideration, he arrived at this number. Although it may seem exorbitant, it is not actually, as in his past life, his family originally was a gouda family (village leader), and his mother always said that his great-grandfather had 117 acres of land on the outskirts of the village. Hence, Vijay felt that it was only natural that the prime minister of the Empire would get more. Also, with the population being so low, expanding land is not very difficult; it just requires a lot of manpower, which is not a problem for Vijay, as there are still many prisoners sent by the Ahome Kingdom.
Why only agricultural tax is free? Vijay decided so because he could not, with a clear mind, grant tax-free privileges for the manufacturing industry, and that too for a lifetime no less. After Vinod, it was the cabinet of ministers who received their Rank 3 nobility titles. Also, the land they received was 180 acres. Next, it was the chief ministers of various states; their status was equal to that of a cabinet minister of the central government, and they also received the same benefits.
Up next, was the second-class nobility, received by the members of parliament at the central government and the cabinet ministers of the state governments. Second-class nobility is awarded with 100 acres of land. Then came the first-class nobility, with the largest number of recipients. This was the starting point of bureaucracy in the empire, the foundation of the government where fresh blood from society gets accepted and eventually climbs the bureaucratic ladder. The first-class nobility is supposed to get 40 acres of land.
Now that the court nobles had all received their rewards, it was time for the military. Kiran Pujari received a 4th class of nobility with similar benefits to the court nobles, but he would have more tax-free privileges in some industries for a limited period of time. Theoretically, Gangadhar should also receive the rank 4 nobility title, but he has yet to earn the merits required for it, so he was granted a Rank 3 nobility title. It was alright, though because his ranking could go up if enough merits are acquired.
The generals of the army are conferred with Rank 3 nobility titles, accompanied by lands. The allocation of Rank 2 and below nobility titles is not determined by hierarchy but rather by the soldiers' contributions to war. Generally, this process follows a clear path, with captains, squad leaders, and surgeons being chosen from the best-performing individuals in the army, ensuring they naturally receive their titles. However, there are exceptions, where individuals who meet the criteria for a title based on their contributions remain in the ranks of a squad. This has highlighted areas for improvement in the existing system, with lessons learned and plans made for further enhancements and corrections within the army's management structure.
After honouring the military, it was the civilians' turn, and as expected, major scientists who made significant discoveries were bestowed with noble titles. While the titles were initially capped at Rank 2, further contributions could lead to upgrades. For instance, both Sai and Manoj Kumar received Rank 2 titles for their pivotal roles in designing a new large cannon and advancing gunpowder technology. Heyram earned his title for contributions to the Academy of Science and Metallurgy. Naveen Bhat also received recognition for his contributions to deepening the knowledge of gears and improving various machines in the Empire.
In the realm of merchants, Bhupathi was granted a Rank 1 nobility title for his innovative assembly line production model.
The ceremony extended throughout the day, with Vijay presiding on his throne, individually granting noble titles. As a symbol of their nobility, the military recipients were presented with a special ceremonial dagger adorned with the royal seal and the chosen seal of the recipient. The court nobles received a large coin with the royal seal on one side and the recipient's personal seal on the other as their proof of nobility.
As for the civilians and the scientists, Vijay would have liked to give them a special fountain pen as proof of nobility, but unfortunately, Vijayanagara still does not manufacture this product, or if he had to say, he could not, at least not yet.
Hence, similar to the court nobles, the civilians and the scientists were given the coin.
Finally, as the coronation ceremony ended, Vijay gained a faction of his own as the nobility he had canonized. Their rights directly come from Vijay, and only Vijay can take away these rights; even the government has no such right. This is one of the privileges of being a noble. Although the government can impose laws and regulations on these nobles like everyone else, they cannot punish these nobles by taking away their privileges; that right lies solely with Vijay Devaraya.
P.S. Went to college today, there was a workshop on drones, but the class was the representation of ' This could have been a few emails and a PPT ' Like it ? Add to library!
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